Process of smoking and curing meat products.



M. BRAND.

PROGESS OF SMOKING AND CURING MEAT PRODUCTS.

APPLIOATION FILED DEC. 6, 190B.

gggfiQQ, Patented July 20, 1909 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1,

' mmvrbfi v w ll @1400 i I v 15m a6 1 "Won/var M. BRAND.

PROCESS OF SMOKING AND CURING MEAT PRODUCTS.

APPLICATION FILED DEG. 5, 190B.

Patented July 20, 1909.

ZEHEBTS-SHEET 2.

5 WITNESSES %M i 1 imi- @kTEQEe MAX BRAND, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO IMPROVED SMOKING PROCESS 00., OF NEW YORK, N, Y. A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

' raoonssor SMOKING AND ename marrnonucrs.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LlvIAx' BRAND, a citizen of theUnited States, and resident of the city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented cer-" tain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Smoking and Curing Meat Products, of which the following is a specification.

The ordinary process of smoking or curing meat products, such as sausages, hams, fish,- etc., consists in building a wood fire, usually out-cot hickory-, oak-chips or shavings, or saw dust, in a closed fire-proof chamber or smoke house, and after such a fire has reached a smoldering condition, in placing the meat products in such compartment for a suficie'nt time to allow them to beslightly cooked, and smoked to acquire the flavor of the smoldering wood-fire and to be'preserved from putrefaction. 'Obviously' such a process is very slow, expensive and irregular, for the reason that it takes considerabletime to bring the fire to the right condition and the different fires will necessarily be different in cooking, and smoking properties, since the temperature in the compartment cannot be maintained at a predetermined degree, and since, on the other hand, the smoldpri'ng condition of the fire-is not under the control of the'operator. Another serious defect of this process consistsin the fact, that an unsatisfied combustion takes place in the smoke-house, whereby the loose carbon particles cover the usually wet ll'lGfitifPl'OdllCtS, producing thus aninfe'rior and =often not marketable product.

' The object of the present invention is'to provide a new process,'whereby the meat products are dried, slightly cooked and smoked in a more satisfactory and expeditious Way by subjecting the samein acompartment, first, to the heat of ordinary illuminating gas, mixed with air enough to burn the same completely, and, second, to

the action of hot air mixed with the fumes and smoke of wood chips. By treating the products in this way, the same are cooked to some extent and an appetizing' smoky flavor is imparted to the same. Both the degree of cooking and smoking depends on a number of conditions, as will be hereinafter readily seen. When a dark product is desired, the product'sjr'nay be smoked without having them previously dried,,-.that is without having the surface moisture evaporated Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 20, 1909.

Application filed December 6, 1908. Serial No. 466,174.

therefrom. Obviously the gas burners and wood chips may be placed in the compartment, holding the meat products, or be arranged and placed in a compartment, inde pendent of the smoke-house in which the articles are placed for cooking and smoking.

' Otherobjects and advantages of the in vention will be apparent from reading the specification and examining the drawings,

forming part of the present application for Letters Patent.

- The drawings illustrate apparatus for carrying out the objects of the present invention, and more particularly Figure 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus, Fig. 2 a section taken-on line 2, 2 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 a'secti'on taken on line 3, 3 of Fig. 1. Fig.

A is a detail of construction of the gas, and

the combined gas and air-supply pipe, and Fig, 5 18 a section taken on line 5, 50f Fig. l. Referring moreparticularly to the device illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, the nu meral .8 designates a compartment, that is the smoke compartment, preferably, made of suitable metal which may be lined or coated with a suitable refractory material, if de sired, which lining is, however, not shown in the drawings. The smoke-house is. provided with a door 9, hinged. to or arranged slidably on said smoke-house, whereby the latter may be closed airtight by means of the cooperating locking devices 10 and 11,

carried by said door and smoke-house, respectively. The meat product supporters or bars 12, 12' are placed upon brackets 13, 13; preferably, angle irons, riveted or otherwise secured to the inner walls of the compartment, whereby the meat product supporters, extend from side to side. The compartment carries outside a thermometer 14:, which is in contact with the air of the. interior of the compartment, whereby the temperature inside of said compartment may be watched. An opening 14 in the door 9 is normally closed by a pivoted cover 14". The attendant may ascertain through this opening the stages, etc, of the process.- Insrde of and near to the top of tecompartment or" smoke-house is arranged a'd'raft-tube 15, con-' nected with the smoke-oiftake pipe 16, having provided therein a damper 17, for a pur pose hereinafter to be described. The drafttube 15 is providedwith smal perforatlons 15. 15, throughout its lengt so that the i products of combustion, after having passed.

cock 18 is former may be easily ignite '30 of the smoke-house.-

the meat products, may pass to the smokeofftake 16 without from the bottom of the smoke-house to one side of the same, allowing thus all of the meat products to be treated with the-same causing the smoke to come in close contact with all of the said products. The damper 17, arranged in the smoke-olftake 16, is, preferably, perforated and may act automatically, that is open when the" pressure or draft becomes too great in' the smoke-house 8.-

The numeral 18 designates the gas supply ipe, conveying common illuminating gas rom the main to the apparatus. A stop provided for a well known purpose. The gas pipe is connected with a substantially horizontal pipe 19, from which extend a plurality of plpes 20, provided with a plurality of perforations 20, conductingthe gas and' air into the compartment 8, and being arranged near to or resting upon the ground, so that the wood chips or saw dust p es whereby the d The gas pipe and air pipes 20 22, the end 23 of cover to some extent said 19 and the combined gas are united by T-pipes 22,

which is open to the external atmosphere.

Obviously regulating valves 24, 24 maybe arranged in the ends 23 of the T-pipes, for a well known purpose. It will be observed from Fig. 4 that theoutlets 25, 25 of the gas supply pipes are obstructed by plugs 26, 26, havingholes 27, 27 as usual with the devices of this character. Each of the combined gas and air-suply pipes may be controlled by independent cocks 20".

Sliding doors 28, 28 are mounted in guides 29, 29, as shown in Fig. l of the drawings,

which doors, when closed, cover an opening By means of this arrangement access may be gained to the pipes 20, 20, and a supply of wood chips may be placed into the compartment during the process. Furthermore air may be admittedto the smoke-house and this supply of'air regulated according to the requirements.

' The. process is carried'out as follows: The smoke-house having been charged with the material to be treated, the door of the smokehouse is closed. The as and air issuing out of the perforations of the burner pipes 20,

1 20 15 then ignited, the adjustment valves 24,

24 havmg been set so that the gas becomes mixed Wltll' air to burn at once and com-' .pletely, producing thus an intense heat which rapidly carries up the temperature within the compartment tm the desired degree, that isto a degree at which the surface moisture be evaporatedflfrom the meat products, and

the same wilLbe sli 'htly 'cooked. Obviously the-temperature wit in the compartment can be variedin s everal-ways, that is by regulating the'g'ns' supply'or by varying, by means ofthe s iding doors 28, 28, the size of the being drawn immediately the smoke-ofitake 16,

unconsumed to causethe flame to be mixed with air enough to sists in subjecting the,

1 opening 30, or finally by'the damper 17 in After this step of are placed in the of course, ignited 20; The smoke will thus cook and desired degree. At

the process wood chips compartment, which are, by the burnertgpipes 20, mixed withathefhot air smoke the meat to any the completion of the process the gas is turned off, the damper 17 in the smokeofftake 16 is opened, android air is admitted through the openin 30, smoke into the oiftake pipe 16. In this manner the smoke-house is within a short time and easily freed from smoke so that, when the door is opened, the cured meat products may be removed. The wood chips may be placed in the compartment either by opening the door 9, or the sliding doors 28, and placing the wood chips above the pipes 20, 20, by a suitable implement.

- The advantages of the process described are obvious. In using illuminating gas, the process may be effected in a less expensive more expeditious and regular way than when using wood for heating the smoke-house and Moreover, inmixing the gas with sufiicient air before i be produced smoking the meat products.

burning, an intense heat may which rapidly raises the temperature of the smoke-house to the desired degree and cooks the meat products to any desired extent. Furthermore in causing the heat to be equally divided over the compartment, .the cresote obtained by burningthe wood chips is evenly divided and comes, therefore, in contact with the meat products in a more satisfactory way than when ,using' a smokehouse with 'a draft-tube, as heretofore in use. By supplying enough air to produce a complete combustionof gas, the gas is burned at once and completely, whereby the carbon and hydrogen is converted to carbonic gas and .water and no particles of carbon escape smoky. Obviously a not smoky fiameis very desirable, since otherwise'the meat products would be covered with the carbon particles so escaping, whereby a much inferior product would be obtained.

What I claim is:

1.. The process of curing and smoking green and moist meat products, which consists in subjecting the same in a compartment, first, to the actionof heat, generated by burning a supply of illuminating gas produce a com plete combustion of the same, and, second, subjecting the meat products, while in said chamber, to the action of the products of combustion of wood to preserve the'sarne from putrefaction and to impart to thesame a wood-smoke flavor.

2. The process of curing and smoking greenand moist meat products, which consame 111 a compartwhich air forces the j ment, first; to the action of heat, generated by burning a supply of carbureted gas mixed with air sufficient to,produce a-oomplete combustion of the same, wherebx the surface moisture of the meat products 1s evaporated and the same are sliihtly cooked, and second,'in subjec' t e products, wh' e in said chamber, to t e action of the products of combustion of wood to preservethe'same from putrefaction and to impart to the same 10 a Wood-smoke flavor.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 21st day of November, A. D. 1908.

MAX'BRAND.

\Vitnesses: SIGMUND HERZOG, LEO BRAND. 

